The Dog Star
by TheMarauders13
Summary: Hi! Welcome to my story about the Marauders. It will be from Sirius Black's perspective from his first year up until (hopefully) his death. In other words, LONG. I'll just point out that, as a high school student, my writing won't be very good. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N) Hi! I know it's been ages, but busy busy busy. Also, I lost my password to all the stuff I'd written so far. Oops. So I had to start again and I haven't had loads of time to write and stuff. Anyway, sorry about such a long wait! Enjoy!

Finally, it was the first of September. I was going to Hogwarts. I had spent my summer buying school books, dodging boring parties in favour of reading them, and chattering on to Reg about how exciting everything would be, and now here I was standing on Platform 9 3/4 with my family, waiting restlessly for the train.

"Stay still, Sirius," Mother hissed, turning to glare at me. I rolled my eyes (once she went back to her probably unbelievably dull conversation with Aunt Druella, of course), but stopped fidgeting. Not that it was easy - I was way to excited about starting school to be well behaved for long. I only waited a few more minutes before I decided to rush off.

"Ok, goodbye Mother, I'm getting on the train now! Bye Reg!" I pulled him into a quick hug. "Don't annoy Mother too much, I'll miss you loads, but I'll write, and I'll see you at Christmas! Have fun without me!" I darted around on the platform, searching for my middle cousin. When I saw her with a group of friends, I ran over to grab her arm and drag her off to the train.

"Come on, Andy! Hurry up!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Give me time to breathe, Si." I gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, but I'm going to Hogwarts!"

"Yeah, Yeah, I know. Just let me get my stuff. I dropped it all when you pulled me away from Ted."

"Ooh, Ted, who's he?" I teased.

"Well, if you must know-"

"I must." I could see Andy roll her eyes at me.

"Shut up. He's my boyfriend. Just don't tell anyone, they'll go ballistic. He's muggleborn." She was right. Pretty much everyone in our family would disown her on the spot if they found out she was dating a mudblood.

"Forbidden love, huh? Romantic; just like in Romeo and Juliet. I hope it ends better, though. I'm guessing this Ted guy doesn't deserve to die."

"How sweet. Now can I go get my trunk now? Stay there, I'll come back." As she walked off, I settled my trunk and sat down in the compartment, restless and excited. It was at the very back of the train, completely empty. At least, it was until Bella and her friends strode in.

"Move." Andy was by far my favourite cousin, but Bella I… strongly disliked. She was always so full of herself, ordering everyone about like she was queen of the world. Annoying her was nearly as dangerous than waking a dragon (as I have found out many times before), but I never learn.

"No."

"Sirius. I said, move."

"Why should I?"

"Because, if you don't get out right this-"

"Back off, Bella. Why don't you and your minions find somewhere else to sit, instead of terrorising your first year cousin." I breathed a sigh of relief. Andy had come to my rescue, with her luggage this time.

"Cissy and Lucius are snogging in our usual compartment, so we need to find somewhere else to sit." Narcissa was my youngest cousin, and she always seemed to be with Lucius Malfoy in some way or other, usually with their lips practically glued together. It was kind of gross.

"Well it's not going to be here. Goodbye." She ushered the gang out the door and away, leaving us in peace at last. The two of us chatted for a while about Hogwarts, about lessons, about Quidditch, and everything that I needed to know for my first year at school, including all about Slytherin. If I didn't get into Slytherin, no doubt my family would hate me, so I hoped I would be sorted there whatever house I preferred. A while after the train had set off, a timid looking boy came in.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." His voice was tentative and quiet, especially in contrast to Andy's confident and rather sixth-year-ish reply of 'go ahead'. He got out a book and sat in the corner, concentrating on reading until two more boys burst in - much more loud and much less like first years.

"Hi! No more space, apart from with whatshername and that Snape guy. I'm James Potter, by the way, and this is Peter Pettigrew."

"Andromeda Black, and my cousin Sirius. Whatever you've heard about our family is probably mostly true, but I can assure you that it doesn't apply to everyone."

"Good to know, I guess. What house are you in?"

"Slytherin, just like the rest of the family. Maybe Si will break the pattern though."

"Hope not! You know what Mother's like," I replied, incredulous.

"Yeah, well..." The train descended into an awkward silence. If I was being honest, I didn't particularly want to be in Slytherin, but family tradition is family tradition - I may not have been the biggest fan, but my parents absolutely adored it. And of course that was the important thing. A minute or so passed before James Potter spoke again, this time to the boy in the corner.

"What's your name?" The boy put down his book to answer.

"Remus Lupin." It was the first time I properly noticed him, and he looked both pleased and nervous to be included in the conversation. James didn't seem to notice, and he continued interrogating Remus.

"What house are you hoping to be in?"

"I don't know... Ravenclaw, I guess, that's what my dad was in anyway. All of them sound good though. What about you?"

"Gryffindor, obviously. It's the best house by far." He looked at the boy next to him, Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh, I'm not sure. Gryffindor would be fun, but I'm probably more of a Hufflepuff." Peter kept glancing to James, as if checking whether he was saying the right thing. It was strange, but I didn't say anything.

A while later, the trolley witch came along to our carriage.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

We all bought something, but Andy bought a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and rattled it under my nose.

"Sirius... Come on, pick one."

"Now way am I doing that again," I said, pushing them away from my face.

"Don't be such a baby, there's nothing to worry about."

"Last time I got a ghost pepper - ghost pepper - flavoured one and nearly burned my mouth off."

"That was last time." The other three were watching this argument unfold with increasing interest, but no one sided with me! I turned to glare at them.

"Are none of you going to back me up here?" Silence. I tried my puppy eyes instead. It just made them giggle. "Ok, fine, I'll eat one, but if I die," I turned back to Andy, "it'll be your fault." I rifled through the box, looking for one that didn't look like it could be too awful. I gingerly bit into it, being careful to only nibble off the tiniest amount. As I imagined, it was pretty horrible.

"What flavour?" Andy asked, grinning excitedly.

"Hard to tell, could be... Ink? Your turn."

"Dream on. That's not going to happen," Andy replied.

"I did it, so everyone else should too."

"Come on, I thought you were cool!" James said in mock disappointment.

"Still going to make you eat one." Andy rolled her eyes and picked one from the box, putting the whole thing in her mouth at once.

"Yes! Strawberry, my favourite."

"That's not fair! I get ink, and you get strawberry?"

"Lovely, fruity, delicious strawberry. Ah, so tasty, so sweet..."

"Shut up and stop trying to make me even more jealous. Moving on..." I glanced around the carriage, deciding on the next victim. "Peter, pick your poison." He reluctantly picked a bean, nibbling the end off and immediately gagging.

"Rotten egg," he choked. It looked unpleasant. So did James's, when he took one.

"Oh my god, what even is that, it tastes disgusting!" Remus had much better luck with his.

"Nice, peppermint." Andy reached over to high five him, which he returned looking mildly surprised.

We spent the rest of the journey chatting and laughing, and before I realised it the journey was over.

The train had pulled into the station, and my first year at Hogwarts had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N) I know, it's been forever, I'm a really inconsistent writer, but don't judge me. (well, you can judge me as much as you want, it has been months) BUT school, homework, holidays, stress, procrastination, writers block, endless amounts of English homework (I'm awful at English), guide camps, Halloween plans, music, art, birthday plans, English homework, becoming a goth, dance, English homework, etc. have all contributed to this being crazily late. Sorry. Also, I posted this as soon as I finished it, so if there are any spag mistakes, or if it's just generally rubbish, please let me know where I went wrong and I will try to fix it. This authors note has gone on forever, I will let you get on with the story now.

I stepped off the train onto the platform. Andy said goodbye, and I soon lost sight of everyone else who was in our compartment. What must have been about a thousand students were making their way to a trail of horseless carriages, so I followed the crowd. When I heard someone calling "Firs' years over here!" from the other end of the platform, my heart sank. I turned around, gritted my teeth and pushed my way through the crowd. Surprisingly, I was successful and soon made my way to the gaggle of first years standing in front of a man who I presumed to be Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. Andy had told me about him - half giant, and a joke among most of the Slytherins.

After stumbling down a steep slope, we approached a lake, and were told to get in the boats by the shore - four to a boat. I ended up in a boat with two girls who seemed to know each other very well already, and a boy who nearly fell into the water on the way across. I just sat at the front trying to ignore the noise behind me, incredibly nervous about the sorting. What if I didn't get put in Slytherin? What would happen? I'd be the first Black I know of in a different house, and it was a terrifying thought. Different was bad. But the train journey had made me realise that if it wasn't for my family, I wouldn't want to be in Slytherin. But I guess my future all came down to the Sorting Hat. I was so absorbed in my train of thought that I didn't notice we had crossed the lake, and had arrived at Hogwarts.

We all stood in the Entrance Hall - some people talking, some people nervous, some people already making friends. I was one of the nervous ones, but I tried not to show it. Showing emotions was a sign of weakness in the Black household. The deputy headmistress - Professor McGonagall - walked in, brisk and confident, and the crowd immediately quietened

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Before the start-of-term feast begins, you will be sorted into one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family while you are here, as you will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, sit with your house at meals, and spend your free time in your house common room. At the end of the year, one house is awarded the House Cup, for gaining the most points. Triumphs will earn your house points, whilst rule-breaking will lose them. I hope you are a credit to which ever house becomes yours. Now follow me, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

Professor McGonagall strode through a door into the Great Hall, and we all followed after her. The hall was huge, and the four house tables were covered with a huge array of food. Andy had told me about the start of term feast - apparently one of the best of the year. Speaking of my cousin, I spotted her sitting on the Slytherin table chatting with a group of friends. Further down were Bella and Cissy, with their friends, some of whom I recognised. Bella caught my eye, and gave me an odd look that made a shiver creep up my spine. God, I hoped I ended up in Slytherin.

All the first years sat down at the front, while Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll, and started reading off it.

"Black, Sirius."

Damn it. I was the first to get sorted. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the hall burning into my back as I walked up to the stool. The Black name was probably notorious for something; my guess would be that the something was nothing good.

After placing the had on my head, I waited anxiously for it to seal my fate and shout out that I was Slytherin. No luck, until I jolted a little with surprise at the sudden loud voice in my head. The sorting hat.

You'd make a good Slytherin. A great one, in fact. You have ambition, and you are a Black.

Yes. This was headed in the right direction so far.

You are also logical, a problem solver, Ravenclaw.

Damn.

Or maybe you are more Hufflepuff? You are extremely loyal, of course. And kind. But only to people important in your life. To strangers, you are... Less so. Perhaps not Hufflepuff.

I could see Bella narrowing her eyes. It never took this long to sort a Black - they were always Slytherin, straight off. Even Andy didn't take long.

Gryffindor - a good fit for you. You are brave, after all. And unafraid to stand up for what's right.

No, not Gryffindor. Mother would kill me.

So, you are afraid of your family?

What? No, of course not. Why would I be? Ok, maybe I am a little. Just a little bit.

So you would like to be in Slytherin?

Yes. Of course.

I said, would you like to be in Slytherin. Not would your family like you to be.

Ok, maybe I don't. But I don't have a choice, do I?

On the contrary... Gryffindor or Slytherin?

What?

Choose. Gryffindor or Slytherin?

I... I don't... Why are you asking me this?

You need to be sorted. Gryffindor or Slytherin? Gryffindor or Slytherin?

I thought for a moment. I knew I wanted to be in Gryffindor, really, but what about my family? I guess, if I had to choose...

Gryffindor!

This time, the hat shouted it out, rather than the voice being in my head. It was met with silence. I had never seen such an intense look of hatred in Bella's eyes before, and Cissy was glaring at me too. So was most of the Slytherin table, with the exception of Andy and a few of her friends. My middle cousin was giving me an encouraging smile, but I couldn't return it. I had made the wrong choice.

A lot of people at the Gryffindor table were looking uncomfortable, so I sat at the end, away from everyone else. I zoned out from everything going on around me, and wondered what would happen during the Christmas holidays. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

I was dragged back to reality by a voice that I recognised.

"Hi. Can I sit here? It's Sirius Black, right?" It was one of the boys I met on the train, the quiet one. What was his name, Remus Lupin?

"Sure. We met on the train, didn't we?"

"Yeah. What lessons are you looking forward to?" He seemed to sense my discomfort on the topic of houses, so kept the conversation away from them. I was grateful. He did glance behind us at the Slytherin table though, and I could've sworn Andy mouthed 'thank you' to him. At least I had one family member who didn't hate me.

The two of us chatted quietly for a while, until after about five minutes of near silence, another boy from the train - Peter Pettigrew - came and sat down, closely followed by James Potter who had taken only a few seconds to sort. James had initially made to go and sit among a group of fourth-years, but there wasn't much space and when he tried to squeeze in next to them, one gave him a glare so cold it must've been physically painful. He and Peter came to sit with us instead.

"I knew I'd be Gryffindor," James was saying, "but that was so fast! I kind of wish it had taken longer."

"Mine took ages. Trust me, you're much better off with a quick sorting. It was so boring," said Peter.

"Yeah, and you weren't the one waiting to be sorted next." James was talking really loudly, even though the sorting was still going on in the background. I rolled my eyes at Remus and he smiled in response. Finally Zabell, Pamela was made a Ravenclaw, and all the first years were sat down at their house tables, and I was at the Gryffindor one. But I decided to leave family issues for another day, because right now I was going to focus on having a good time, stuffing my face with food, and making friends. This was going to be one fun year.


End file.
